


exposeur

by orphan_account



Category: Zero Day (2003)
Genre: M/M, boys who are gay, gay boys, need i say more
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-21
Updated: 2016-08-21
Packaged: 2018-08-10 05:56:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7832947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I'm not gay," Andre says, visibly uncomfortable.</p>
<p>"I am," Cal says, demeanor breaking, smirk coming through. "And you did call me a pretty boy, a while back, so."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I

After chilling at the cemetery with Rachel, Cal decides to head over to Andre's house.

Okay, well, he doesn't _decide_ to. He planned to, like, three days in advance. Actually, he didn't plan it; Andre told him to come over. At 1:00 pm.

Right now, it was 3:42 pm. So he was two- nearly three, actually- hours late to a planned meeting with Andre. Andre Kriegman.

If Cal Gabriel were a boy with common sense, he'd be freaking out. Nervous, at the very least. But Cal was not a boy with very much common sense.

And as such, he was somehow fazed when Andre was angry at him.

"Where the _fuck_ have you been!" Andre shouts at him when he opens the door to his home, but still stepping aside so Cal could enter.

"I was just hanging out with Rachel," Cal replies as he strolls inside, vocally recoiling in a way that in anyone else would indicate meekness, but Andre knew meant he was being defensive. Andre closed the door behind him, a fire alight in his dark brown eyes.

Cal and Andre had been friends for a while. Cal had also been friends with Rachel for a while. While he admittedly did prioritize Andre, given the fact that they were, after all, planning a mass shooting together, Andre somehow didn't realize this, and interpreted Cal's continued contact with Rachel as Cal being against him, somehow.

What Andre's rationale for this was, Cal didn't know; what Cal did know, though, was that pushing Andre's buttons was a favorite pastime of his. He felt mean admitting it, but hey. He already knew that, in spite of his angelic looks, he wasn't going to heaven.

Andre crossed his arms, huffing.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Cal asked, shrugging. He knew what it meant though.

He huffs again. "You were supposed to be here three frickin' hours ago," Andre says, scowling. "And you're late because you were with- fucking Rachel, of all people."

"She wanted to hang out," Cal murmurs, scratching the back of his neck. That wasn't true, Cal had asked her to go to the cemetery with him; what Andre didn't know wouldn't hurt him, and, besides, it's not like he was going to fact-check- and with Rachel, no less.

Andre shrugs. "Okay. Yeah, let me just, hang out with some random girl, unplanned, meanwhile the person I'm supposed to be _shooting up a school with_ ,", he emphasizes, "is just wondering where the fuck I am. That's perfectly reasonable."

"I have to be nice to her," Cal replies, still murmuring. "She's my prom date. If I suddenly drop her, she's gonna get suspicious and-"

"Oh, so now you're going to _prom_ with her?" Andre blurts out. "You, like, _know_ I hate her. Why _her_ of all people?"

Cal doesn't like Rachel. Well, he likes her- as a friend. Not romantically. He's going to prom with her out of convenience. In an ideal world, he'd be going to prom with one of the taller guys on the swim team. 

No, wait, in an ideal world, there'd be no prom, there'd be no swim team, none of that would exist. Still, though.

But yeah, surprise, surprise, Cal's gay; he's known since 7th grade. Everyone else around him has known for longer, or at least assumed he was, so he's been facing defamation for it since the 3rd grade, at the very least. Despite the veracity of the accusations, though, he's never given anyone any evidence for those claims to be anything but baseless. 

Cal's seen the way Andre looks at other guys- him included-and heard the way he talks about "gays", and he feels sympathy for him. He understands. He gets it. 

Still, he's going to exploit an insecurity when he sees one.

"Oh my god," Cal says, smirking. "You're jealous of Rachel!"

"What?" Andre retorts incredulously, face contorting in horror. "No! That's not true. No." 

His lie could've been believable if his face hadn't turned just the slighest shade of red.

Cal chuckles, shaking his head. "Look, Andre, if you wanted to go to prom with me, you could've just _asked_."

Andre looks shocked. Horrified. "I- I don't want to go to prom with you!" he manages, voice cracking some. "I have work that night. And-"

"Then why're you jealous of her?"

Andre shrugs, putting his hands up in the air. "I don't know!" he exclaims. "Maybe because you're constantly spending time with her and shit! Like, we were supposed to hang out, but you friggin' blew me off for _Rachel_!"

"Andre, I already spend, like, a ton of time with you."

"I don't know if you've forgotten, but we are planning an attack," Andre says, totally serious. 

"Mm," Cal hmphs, in thought. "That's fair."

"I like just hanging out with you," Andre offers, awkward tone in his voice. 

"Andre, I know you like me."

Andre scoffs. "Of course I like you. We're friends-"

"No, Andre, in the other way."

Andre looks shocked, and Cal wishes he could smirk without offending him.

"I'm not gay," Andre says, visibly uncomfortable. 

"I am," Cal says, demeanor breaking, smirk coming through. "And you did call me a pretty boy, a while back, so-"

"That doesn't mean _shit_!" Andre shouts, clearly on the defensive. "Me saying you're a pretty boy doesn't make me gay. Like, what, I can't acknowledge that you're attractive without being gay?"

"Andre," Cal utters. "You wouldn't be reacting so defensively if you knew I was totally wrong."

Andre manages to stutter some syllables, before shutting up for a good 30 seconds, staring intently at the floor. "Oh, God."

"Sorry I was the one to break it to you," Cal replies. 

Andre's quiet for a bit after that.

Just a bit, though.

"You made me gay!" Andre declares with fervor. "I can't believe this, oh God, what the fuck."

"I can honestly swear that I didn't," Cal states, "But, like, I'm guessing you're going through the whole denial and bargaining thing right now. You'll get over it."

"What am I supposed to do now," Andre says more than asks. "What are my parents going to think-"

"You do realize we're going to be dead in a few months, right?"

Andre frowns in confusion. "What's that gotta do with anything?"

"I dunno," Cal says, fidgeting with his hands. "Nothing matters?"

"Huh."

"Yeah. Just, don't worry too much about it." He smirks at Andre again, flashing him his classic stare. "So, what was that you said about me being attractive?"


	2. II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it continues.

Andre gets mad at Cal for that comment, and Cal can't really say he's surprised at all. Andre just shouts at Cal to leave, and that he'll be at his house in, checking his watch, two hours, and that Cal better be ready when he gets there. 

Cal walks home, hands in his pockets; he doesn't really think about what's just happened, he just thinks about the fact that he should probably practice playing the sitar. And when he gets home, after greeting his mom, that's what he does. And he does it for an unending stretch of time that the clock in his room confirms is in fact, two hours on the dot, before he hears a familiar beeping from his driveway. He slinks out of his house as easily as he entered.

"Me thinking you're attractive doesn't make me gay," Andre immediately blurts out the moment Cal gets into his car.

"Jesus," Cal mutters under his breath, buckling his seatbelt. 

Andre turns the wheel, pulling out of his driveway. "So you're..." he starts off, looking around before finishing- "Gay?"

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

Cal knows Andre's smart, and is surprised to hear Andre even ask this question rather than coming to the fairly obvious conclusion. Still, he's going through a lot right now, and his inferencing skills could be suffering as a result, so he decides to go easy on him.

"Because you decided to tell me your opinion of gay people first," Cal interjects, or, well, interjects as much as someone can interject when it's their socially designated turn to respond. 

Andre furrows his brows, before his face falls. "Oh," he says, wincing. "Fuck. Sorry."

Cal earnestly cannot dignify that with an actual response, so he gives a wave of his hand to say, "Don't push it".

"So how'd you... know."

"Uh, well." Cal rests his head on his hand, propped up by his elbow against the car door. He grins involuntarily; he's never told anyone this before. "In 7th grade I had a crush on Ryan McCallough-"

"No, I mean," Andre sighs, hitting brakes when he realizes they're at a red light. "How'd you know I'm..."

Cal stares at him; Andre just gesticulates awkwardly.

"You're what?"

"Y'know-"

"OH," Cal says, nodding. "Oh, yeah, that- I dunno, honestly. You just seem it?" He sighs. "Maybe you were right about me making you gay."

Andre scowls at him. "It's _not funny_ -"

"Do you actually think people can turn other people gay?"

Andre's quiet, driving again when the light turns green. "Maybe."

" _Andre_."

"I was normal before I started liking you!" Andre exclaims, panic rising in his voice. "I wasn't like this! I liked girls!"

Cal feels like Andre's lying, but he'll humor him. After all, that's what friends are for.

"You're not gay then, Andre-"

Andre huffs. "Then why do I _like_ you?"

"I dunno." Cal replies wearily. "Maybe you're, like, bisexual or something."

Andre groaned in disgust. "Like _that's_ any better."

"Either way, we're going to be dead before the school year ends."

"You keep saying that!" Andre shouts, turning onto his road. "Like that makes any sort of a difference!"

"Andre," Cal says. "Andre," Cal repeats. "Nothing we do now matters, besides prepping for Zero Day."

"What the fuck are you saying-"

"What I was going to say is," Cal chides, raising a brow, "Is that _you_ never asked if I _find you attractive too._ "

As Andre pulls into his own driveway, Cal puts a hand on his thigh- dangerously, dangerously close- stares him down, face less than two inches away from Andre's, and smiles that cherubic smirk he's renowned for.

"Jesus _fucking_ Christ, Cal."

________________

Andre got mad at him again, but a fleeting, fading anger. He just cursed him out under his breath as they entered his house, making a beeline for his room, closing the door behind them.

"What the fuck do I," Andre says, more to himself than to Cal, nervously pacing. "Oh God."

"Relax," Cal responds, sitting on his bed, and patting the spot beside him. "Sit down. We can get through this."

Andre nods weakly and takes a seat beside him.

Staring him straight in the eyes, Cal smiles.

"So, like, do you like me?"

Andre nods again.

"How," Cal asks monotonously.

"I don't know," Andre starts, his shoulders drawn together in a way suggesting he was uncomfortable. "I just... think you're cute?"

"Hmm," Cal crosses his arms. "Cute in what way, though?" He isn't over Andre calling him a pretty boy, but he doesn't want to bring it up. Not now. Not here.

Andre shrugs, looking like he's mentally shutting down a bit, looking defeated.

Cal has to stop for a moment and take note of how _small_ Andre looks for once. He's always seemed pumped up, full of bravado and aggression; right now he's confused, and scared, and Cal isn't sure if he likes it or not.

"I know this is a weird question. But," Cal states warily, speaking slowly. "If we were to have sex, ideally, who would be getting fucked?"

"Um, I would be fucking you."

Cal wants to laugh. Jesus. Maybe Andre really is straight. Out of respect for Andre, though, he keeps a straight face. He nods intently.

"Now that we've got this kinda worked out, what do you wanna do?"

Andre just shrugs again, and Cal can practically feel his own heart... kind of breaking. Out of sympathy. Sort of.

"I can't exactly drop Rachel as my prom date now," Cal explains. "And besides. You've got work."

"I guess."

"Also, we'd probably get the shit beaten out of us."

"Yeah, I get it-"

Andre doesn't finish that sentence, because Cal presses a quick, chaste kiss to his lips. Okay, it isn't quick- he stays there for a while, but it is chaste. No tongue, no nothing, and Andre does kiss back, but as they back away from each other, Andre's face reddening in the same way it did earlier, he looks utterly scandalized.

Cal's expecting him to start screaming, or shout at Cal to leave, or to puke, or something extreme like that, and to his shock, all Andre says, in a very small, very quiet voice, is:

"I kind of liked that."

Grinning, Cal replies, "Well, you're not the only one."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> questions? comments? concerns? message me at sunsh1neb0y on tumblr!

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr at sunsh1neb0y


End file.
